Is there a silver lining to Fujita’s suspension?
The Cleveland Browns now know they will be without Scott Fujita for three games this fall, as the NFL announced on Tuesday that the veteran linebacker and three other players have been suspended without pay for conduct detrimental to the NFL as a result of their leadership roles in the “bounty” program that ran in New Orleans from 2009 to 2011.
“It is the obligation of everyone, including the players on the field, to ensure that rules designed to promote player safety, fair play, and the integrity of the game are adhered to and effectively and consistently enforced,” NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement. “Respect for the men that play the game starts with the way players conduct themselves with each other on the field.”
According to an NFL statement announcing the suspensions: “The record established that Fujita, a linebacker, pledged a significant amount of money to the prohibited pay-for-performance/bounty pool during the 2009 NFL Playoffs when he played for the Saints. The pool to which he pledged paid large cash rewards for “cart-offs” and “knockouts,” plays during which an opposing player was injured.”
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